{"id":202191,"date":"2026-07-20T14:05:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:05:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/?p=202191"},"modified":"2026-07-20T14:05:25","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T21:05:25","slug":"off-leash-dogs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rei.com\/blog\/hike\/off-leash-dogs","title":{"rendered":"Ask an Outsider: Should dogs ever be off leash on the trail?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome to Ask an Outsider. We are here to answer your most pressing questions about enjoying time outside, like whether you have to be outdorky<\/a> to be outdoorsy, whether you should bury or pack out your poop<\/a>, or how to reconcile a different risk tolerance with a partner<\/a>. Our advice givers are experts from both inside and outside REI Co-op who draw from their own experience and knowledge to help inform yours.

We gave Miles Howard, an urban thru-hiking advocate and REI Co-op Member since 2010, a long leash to try to answer a question about free-roaming dogs in public outdoor spaces. As the founder of Boston\u2019s 149-mile Walking City Trails network<\/a>, Howard has shared his fair share of trails with wagging tails, and he just wants everyone to have a paws-itive experience outside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\"Illustrated<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n

Want to submit a question?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Send it to\u00a0expertadvice@rei.com<\/a> with the subject line “Ask an Outsider.” Include your name and the year you became an REI Co-op Member. Letters may be edited.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Dear Outsider,  

I really like to go hiking in this large regional park near me, which has 500 acres of forest, 12 miles of hiking and mountain-biking trails, and access to the Mississippi River. In the spring, I\u2019m there three or four mornings each week, and at least half the time (often more), I\u2019m approached by an off-leash dog while I\u2019m on the trail. Often, their owner is out of sight and far behind. Yes, there\u2019s a leash law in the county, though there isn\u2019t park staff around to consistently enforce it: The code states that pets must be on a leash no more than six feet long at all times, except within designated dog park areas. 

I love dogs, but it can feel pretty scary to encounter one alone when I\u2019m not expecting it! Is there some kind of basic etiquette for letting their dogs off leash on shared use trails, or am I being a canine killjoy?  

Signed, 
Jamie B., REI Co-op Member since 2024 <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dear Jamie, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reading your message helped my nerves stop jangling after a trail run where I crossed paths with an agitated, off-leash Dalmatian\u2014just when I was starting to descend a rather steep and eroded slope. Maybe it didn\u2019t like the looks of my blue spandex tights. It\u2019s impossible to know. 

We\u2019ll get back to that part soon, but in all seriousness, your question reflects something I\u2019ve noticed over 10+ years as a hiking guidebook author and trail planner. Leash laws, which exist in many parks for various reasons including preserving open space, protecting wildlife, limiting allergic exposure, and reducing scary situations for both humans and dogs, are almost never enforced. This leaves the rules open to disregard by dog owners and, thus, you have the opposite of basic etiquette: an open debate which can inspire fierce arguments.

If there\u2019s ever going to be any self-enforced standards, it has to begin with a grassroots case for why leashes can benefit everyone involved. To that end, I called up Marie Wulfram<\/a>, a Washington state pet photographer with a background in veterinary medicine who spends enough time outdoors with dogs to understand the discussion\u2019s nuance. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Case for Leashing<\/strong>\u00a0Up Your Pup<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The thing to remember with any dog\u2014no matter their training or disposition\u2014is that you can\u00a0never know how it might respond to creatures or objects\u00a0encountered\u00a0in the field.\u00a0So, leashing can keep your furry best friend safe too.\u00a0\u201cYou could be walking on a trail where other people have thrown trash, or through an area with plants that might smell intriguing,\u201d Wulfram says, explaining why she always keeps her outdoor photo subjects on leash. \u201cEither of these things can be dangerous for a pooch to ingest, which they might do if they get out of sight and they\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0respond to calls to come back.\u201d\u00a0(And,\u00a0remember, whatever goes in must come out: If you lose sight of your\u00a0dog\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0harder to pick up and properly dispose of their waste.)\u00a0

Leashing can also prevent your\u00a0pet\u00a0becoming scared by unfamiliar encounters:\u00a0Even a normally friendly pup might become frightened of a new person. What looks like a trekking pole or an extra-large backpack to us might be threatening or scary to a canine, for example. And\u00a0any pup (friendly or skittish)\u00a0might be an unwanted visitor\u00a0to people who are allergic or afraid of dogs.\u00a0\u00a0

\u201cI have a special-needs\u00a0child who likes dogs from a distance, but finds them terrifying when they get closer,\u201d Wulfram notes. \u201cThere have been times when an unleashed dog has come right up to us and the owner has insisted, \u2018He\u2019s\u00a0friendly,\u2019 even as they see my son climbing up my side.\u201d\u00a0

Wildlife encounters are another potential danger for off-leash dogs, whether due to direct attack or a disruption that causes a ripple\u00a0effect. Just this summer, for example, a woman\u00a0was attacked by a mama bear<\/a>\u00a0in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, after her off-leash dog treed a cub on a trail.\u00a0And what happens if something happens to you<\/em> and you can’t get your pup back because you’re injured or immobilized?\u00a0

Several of the Leave No Trace<\/a>\u00a0principles can be read as sound reasons to control pets at all times in an effort to avoid these types of incidents: Respect wildlife, be considerate of other visitors and properly dispose of waste. Some land managers, including the National Park Service<\/a>, take environmental protection seriously enough that they prohibit<\/em> pets except service animals on trails, leashed or unleashed. Because just as unpredictable as an unleashed dog’s behavior is how a hiker or a wild animal might feel about the dog itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Photo credit: Gianna Keiko | REI Co-op<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Ground Realities of Leashing<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Given all of this, why are the rules so often ignored at parks where visitors\u00a0are\u00a0<\/em>asked to keep their dogs on leashes? And why\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0leashing the default approach at parks with no such explicit rules?

Having logged miles with several friends\u2019 dogs in the field\u2014sometimes even holding their lead myself!\u2014I concede that leashing is counterintuitive for many hounds and their humans. The outdoors is a smorgasbord of curious sights, sounds and smells that can leave a pup begging to explore, and reining in that urge to roam can be physically and emotionally taxing for a dog owner. Last fall, after three hours cooped up in my Honda Fit, a friend and I decided to let her collie, Toby, off leash as we climbed to Table Rock in New Hampshire\u2019s Great North Woods.\u00a0Both of us had encountered plenty of off-leash pups on the trails in the region before, and given their modest visitor traffic and Toby’s prior experience, allowing the dog to roam freely for a little while didn’t seem too risky.\u00a0But we agreed the leash would come out before we hit the ledgy summit.

Our decision paid off, yielding a cozy night of tent camping with a sated and serene pooch.\u00a0However, checking the Table Rock State Park website before returning to the Great North Woods years later, I realized we had unwittingly violated the park’s rules<\/a>, which state that dogs must be kept on a leash of 6 feet or less. We had assumed too much, leaning on the precedent of seeing unleashed dogs on local trails and neglecting to look up the actual park regulations. I suppose that those visitors, like us, had wanted to create more satisfying outdoor experiences for their dogs. Still, those rules were in place for a reason\u2014several<\/em> reasons, as we’ve already discussed. And how many hikers would put the leashes back on at the summit of Table Rock? Cliffy\u00a0and steep areas are especially hazardous for dogs, who can\u2019t tell when they\u2019re about to step over the edge into nothingness. Between 2019 and 2024, nearly 250 dogs<\/a> were reported stuck or lost on San Francisco\u2019s coastal cliffs, requiring rescue (and causing owners unnecessary panic). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA lot of people I\u2019ve spoken with about dogs and leashes seem to have the idea that the leash is inhibiting their dog\u2019s joy,\u201d Wulfram says. \u201cAnd I get it. But at the same time, if you\u2019re taking your dog on a hike, even if they\u2019re on a leash, you\u2019re already expanding that dog\u2019s enjoyment of life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A
Photo credit: Dustin Kingman | REI Co-op<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Negotiating the Landscape<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Is there room for both ideas in\u00a0a basic\u00a0etiquette for off-leash dogs? Yes, leashes minimize risks for pets, humans and wildlife, and yes,\u00a0<\/em>being\u00a0off leash\u00a0can be good for a dog\u2019s mental and physical health.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a lot to process, but I think\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0possible.\u00a0Here\u2019s\u00a0how.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n